Exploration of the global foreign currency exchange market continues to entice eager investors and traders. However, recent macroeconomic turbulence fueled by the pandemic, supply chain constraints, and geopolitical tension has caused seismic developments to unfold within the forex market, leaving a dubious atmosphere of uncertainty.
Investors have begun to retreat their position, holding shorter, and less presumptuous standings on the forex market. Similar conditions are seen unfolding in the stock market, as a growing number of seasoned investors are opting for more buoyant investments against a backdrop of unpredictable progress.
Both forex and stock traders are unsure what the next few months will have in store for them, and for novice traders looking to enter the market, it could become increasingly risky, as volatile conditions continue to spill over into several economic sectors.
Finding Reputable Educational Resources Is Becoming Harder
Understanding the market could help young traders have a firmer grip on how to manage their expectations and investment decisions. With the rise of tech-based trading platforms becoming increasingly prevalent, more traders than ever have access to a democratized forex market – but this doesn’t necessarily mean they have the skills and knowledge to help them build winning strategies.
Today, there’s not only an unlimited amount of forex broker platforms, but a plethora of educational resources and materials available for everyone.
Despite having access to untapped knowledge and forex market research, younger traders, those that are only starting their forex trading journey are often considered to be poor learners.
Data found that although thousands of people sign up for forex training courses, only 27% of students will typically watch the video lessons in the correct order. Many learners are missing key information on course materials, and also training opportunities to help them build a more sufficient understanding of the forex market.
While this may only be one such instance, occurrences such as these cause further problems for young forex traders that are not yet comfortable enough to execute their trades or build sufficient trading strategies.
Finding reputable resources has also become a bigger challenge in the last several years. Ensuring that the information young traders are being exposed to, and consuming is correct, or even accurate for that matter has become a burden to manage properly.
Forex broker platforms have since taken on the responsibility of providing traders, both new and seasoned professionals with adequate informational resources to help expand their abilities, but also keep them more accurately informed about developments taking place in the forex trading market.
Best Educational Forex Broker Platforms
For young traders, or any for that matter, requires them to understand three basic principles for choosing the forex broker platform.
The first principle is knowing whether or not a broker is a trusted brand that is well-regulated with the appropriate authorities. Secondly, having a platform that ensures users will have access to the right educational resources and a variety of materials. Finally, using a platform that is user-friendly, and can be accessed via a desktop computer or a mobile device.
Using actionable market research provides users and traders with better insight, and can ensure they make more informed trading decisions, before or during their trading activity.
Below, we give a rundown of some of the most reliable educational forex broker platforms that are best suited for young traders.
AvaTrade
Established back in 2006, AvaTrade has garnered immense support from both inexperienced and seasoned trading professionals. The platform offers roughly 44 different forex options and has an additional 1,200 CFD options.
However, in terms of educational resource availability, AvaTrade has received recognition for its extensive educational resources, equipping traders with the knowledge and skills they require to navigate the forex markets.
The AvaTrade Education Center features a robust 103 comprehensive beginner and advanced topic articles, and their SharpTrader offering has in-depth courses that are categorized based on experience level. All their courses include materials both in written and video format, feature a progress tracking meter, and have integrated quizzes.
Aside from featured content, the platform regularly explores niche subject matters, with video content published on YouTube, hosting video webinars, and has a Vimeo channel.
The platform is currently regulated in three different Tier-1 jurisdictions and four Tier-2 jurisdictions, making it one of the safer, and more regulated platforms for new CFD and forex trading.
eToro
Perhaps one of the biggest, and most frequently used forex broker platforms, eToro has more than 17 million active users currently registered on the platform, and further features and an extensive line of resources supported by third-party analytics site, TipRanks.
Although eToro doesn’t have in-house educational materials, it recently launched the eToro Academy, which now enables beginner traders to have more well-structured access to the necessary resources.
New traders can take advantage of eToro Academy, as it consists of different videos, podcasts, guides, and webinars hosted by professional traders.
Content is categorized based on experience level, and includes different financial segments, such as stocks, equities, crypto, and more importantly forex trading. While their in-house research requires more work and attention, users that have access to the eToro Academy have perhaps one of the most extensive digital trading libraries at their disposal.
Forex.com
Forex.com is solely focused on providing traders with premier access to the foreign exchange market, and further assisting them with educational materials they require to improve their skills as they become more comfortable with their trading strategies and techniques.
A further look shows that Forex.com has an incredibly user-friendly desktop platform, and new users can take a beginner quiz to help them navigate the array of resources they have available.
Available research and materials are categorized based on experience level, meaning, even if you’re a professional, or have some knowledge, all materials are divided according to a person’s experience level.
While the platform makes an effort to provide traders with the necessary information, it’s unlikely that they will garner the skills to become distinguished or even seasoned traders. This would encourage users to access additional research and materials that can help support their trading methodology.
IG
For new traders that are often left feeling intimidated by forex broker platforms, IG is considered to be one of the more user-friendly options and carries a range of educational materials that can be accessed through their online platform.
One thing to note with IG is that there is not a lot of fundamental data available, meaning that traders will need to find more supplementary resources elsewhere. Nonetheless, the available materials are substantial enough to help novice traders with more understanding of the forex market.
Interactive tools and technical charts or indicators help traders to better understand how major economic changes and events can influence the market. The platform has roughly 30 technical indicators, and users can easily edit or make changes to any charts. This enables traders to mark significant events that took place, without having to endure tedious efforts.
Finally, there is a live and regularly updated news feed that is powered by Thomas Reuters, that also gives traders on-demand access to breaking news headlines and stories as they unfold in real-time. Another interesting addition is the platform’s IGTV, a built-in news video service, which publishes roughly four editions every day.
IG is focused on providing young traders with more elaborate forex market insights, without getting too technical, or creating an intimidating user interface.
Interactive Brokers
With Interactive Brokers, traders will benefit from increased investment selection and further have access to their industry-based research and forex market tools. One of the downsides with this broker is that their website can become challenging, often too complicated to navigate, making it hard for those traders that have just started trading.
The majority of the platforms’ research and news services are provided for free, and traders have the option to use their Fundamentals Explorer, which promotes and provides fundamental data from Thomas Reuters.
Their fundamentals data tracks more than 30,000 companies and roughly 5,500 analysts’ ratings. Other features include their newswire segments, which track news and live events on demand from more than 80 different companies.
Interactive Brokers has some well-known research providers, including Zacks Investment Research, 24/7 Wall Street, and Market Realist, among others, and an additional 100 providers that can be accessed through a paid subscription plan.
For those traders looking for more advanced tools, last year Interactive Brokers launched IBKR GlobalTrader, an investment app that allows investors to trade stocks and more than 80 exchanges in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Capital.com
Another strong contender, and perhaps geared towards more sophisticated forex traders, Capital.com is a highly reputable and well-regulated platform, that is authorized to accept users from 183 countries and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and the Securities and Exchange Commission in Cyprus.
The platform has a reliable interface that is primarily driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Aside from these features, Capital.com has a proprietary trading platform, making it easy to use on both desktop and mobile devices, including MetaTrader 4 and Trading View.
It’s worth considering that the platform provides relatively extensive educational materials and resources for traders of all experiences. Their Education Hub grants users access to multi-asset research, with different phased courses for free.
Users trading forex will benefit from the demo trading feature, allowing them to first test out their abilities, before taking on more real-world trading. The forex trading guide breaks down the most popular forex trading pairs on the market and allows users an in-depth look at the developments of these pairs, and reactions to different market events.
While Capital.com is compatible with various platforms and devices, it’s often considered to be more designed for intermediate traders, however, it provides an easy-to-use interface and is a well-trusted name among other competitors.
Concluding Thoughts
While there are many other forex broker platforms to still uncover, for beginner traders it’s best to side with a platform that provides them with easy-to-use educational materials, tools, and resources.
While many platforms may have extensive data available to users, traders are reminded to follow up their data with additional research and to ensure that they get the best possible insight before executing a trade.
Given the size of the foreign currency exchange market, novice traders need to ensure they are equipped with both the skills and knowledge that will help them build an extensive understanding of how the market changes, and what strategies they require to overcome challenges.
Traders need to side with a platform they feel comfortable with but also can easily use, and understand, without feeling intimidated. Breaking through the noise will help young traders develop their skills, but also establish themselves as informed forex traders.
